Pens Rally, Beat Canucks in OT 6-5; Sabres Stab Habs

PITTSBURGH--Jaromir Jagr scored twice and the Pittsburgh Penguins ran their winning streak to eight games, rallying to beat Vancouver 6-5 last night for their second overtime victory in three nights.

Jagr scored his first goal and assisted on another in the opening 2:10 of the third period after Pittsburgh twice fell behind by two goals, then won it 1:21 into overtime with his 26th goal.

Jagr's three-point night--he also assisted on Kip Miller's tying goal in the third period--gave him 21 of his league-high 80 points during Pittsburgh's longest winning streak since an eight-game run in late 1995.

On the game-winner, Jan Hrdina dug the puck out along the boards and chipped it ahead to Miller, who fed it up-ice to Jagr as he shed defender Mattias Ohlund to easily beat goaltender Corey Hirsch with a wrist shot.

The Penguins--4-0-8 in overtime this season--couldn't hold a 5-4 lead in the final period as Todd Bertuzzi tied it at 12:09 with his seventh goal.

The Penguins out-shot the Canucks 40-18, but still fell behind 2-0 and 4-2 by giving up a pair of breakaway goals, one by Adrian Aucoin that was Vancouver's league-leading 13th shorthanded goal.

Marcus Naslund, a former Penguins first-round draft choice, scored his 28th and 29th goals of the season in the second period after Pittsburgh's Peter Skudra replaced an injured Tom Barrasso in goal. Vancouver scored on two of its four shots in the period.

But Pittsburgh's Kevin Hatcher scored shorthanded after Martin Straka, who had three points, won a face-off in the Canucks' zone at 17:55 of the second--two seconds following Darius Kasparaitis' unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.

Sabres 5, Canadiens 2

BUFFALO, N.Y.--Randy Cunneyworth and two other Buffalo players scored their first goals of the season as the struggling Sabres defeated the Montreal Canadiens 5-2 yesterday.

Paul Kruse, Mike Wilson and Cunneyworth each notched his first goal as the Sabres built a 5-0 lead through the first period and a half.

Saku Koivu scored for Montreal late in the second period. Vincent Damphousse stole the puck from Jason Woolley during a Sabres power play and beat Dominik Hasek with a wrap-around early in the third.

It was the first point of the season each for Kruse and Cunneyworth and the 37-year-old Cunneyworth's first goal as a Sabre since he scored against Boston in a 3-1 win over the Bruins on Nov. 15, 1981. It was the longest span in league history between goals scored by a player for one team.

Cunneyworth, who started his NHL career with Buffalo in 1980, returned to his original team after a 17-year absence. He played with five different NHL teams and three full seasons in the minors in that time.

Kruse, Brian Holzinger and Wilson scored for Buffalo in the first period. Miroslav Satan made it 4-0 for Buffalo with his 22nd goal in the second period.

Red Wings 4, Oilers 2

DETROIT--Sergei Fedorov had a goal and an assist and Chris Osgood stopped 29 shots as the Detroit Red Wings beat the Edmonton Oilers 4-2 last night.

Fedorov, who has recently blamed his low goal production on declining ice time, scored his 14th to break a 1-1 tie in the second period and helped set up Steve Yzerman's 21st in the third.

Vyacheslav Kozlov and Martin Lapointe scored Detroit's other goals.

Doug Weight and Pat Falloon both had a goal and an assist for the Oilers, who began a five-game road trip by extending their season-worst losing streak to three.

Edmonton goalie Bob Essensa had 33 saves.

The teams were scoreless through the first 29:07 of play before each scored a goal within a 53-second span in the second period.

Kozlov skated the puck behind the Edmonton net before bringing it out on the right side of the crease and lifting a shot over Essensa at 9:53.

Panthers 3, Senators 1

KANATA, Ontario--Viktor Kozlov had a goal and an assist to lead the struggling Florida Panthers over the Ottawa Senators.

Robert Svehla and Peter Worrell also scored for the Panthers, who won for the first time in four games.

Marian Hossa scored for the Senators, who lost for just the third in 21 games and had a five-game unbeaten streak broken (3-0-2).

The Panthers won for the first time without Pavel Bure in the lineup. He injured his knee last week. The two points moved Florida into a tie with idle Boston for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.